Channel 9 News aired serious allegations against poor management at the City of Port Phillip. The issue was street cleaning and in particular allegations against the street cleaners. Allegations including, 

• a lazy culture,
• wage rates above average Councils for similar work,
• staff being paid for 9 hours but working only 3 hours,
• a round robin of parking in the streets doing nothing for a short time then moving to another parking spot to avoid suspicion.

>> Watch 9News report here 

When I watched the report, the first thought was not only was I not surprised, but that it explained why they were often parking in my street as well, doing nothing. And then you think of so many other ratepayers who have similar stories to tell and you realise that there is possibly something to the 9News Report.

Within 24 hours of the news report some of our Councillors made statements including on Facebook in response to the allegations. Mayor Cunsolo stated:

“The accusations made by an ex-staff member and ex-contractor on Channel 9 last night do not align with Council’s strong culture of customer service, performance accountability and value for money. The vast majority of Council’s operational staff work diligently to ensure our city is clean and safe, and Council responds appropriately where this is not the case. If residents or other members of the public have concerns about work not being completed, we encourage them to report this to us and we will investigate as a priority.”

Cr Bond, decided to focus on the two whistleblowers with some knowledge of their “popularity” at the depot and performances at employment tribunals. He then suggests that the Channel 9 report had no substance, stating “All of our trucks have GPS tracking, so any activity as there described is uncovered fairly quickly and dealt with if and when it occurs.” The problem with that statement is that it’s only valid if indeed someone in authority wants to look at the data.

The problem with the responses from both Councillors, is that they lead from a position of “nothing to see here” Councillors first and foremost have a duty to protect the rate payers’ interests. Not their own, nor their increasingly self-serving institution. Cr Bond choosing to defend the City of Port Phillip by suggesting that the whistleblowers themselves may be the real issue, does not instill any confidence that City Hall is on top of this matter. Some might even argue it’s just a form of scapegoating.

A proper response to the allegations should have been something like this. 

“The allegations raised in the Channel 9 News report are concerning. We are currently unaware of any of the outlined practices as stated in that report going on within the City of Port Phillip. We will be seeking an immediate inquiry into the allegations and on completion, release the findings to the residents.” 

This would have been the transparent, governance orientated approach as opposed to the tiresome political speak, so often now contaminating our local councils. 

The Challenge to Mayor Cunsolo and Councillor Bond!

Now here is the challenge to at least demonstrate a modicum of civic responsibility.

Seek a resolution through Council to refer the street cleaner allegations in the Channel 9 News Report to the independent audit and risk member at the City of Port Phillip. Give the independent audit member a wide term of reference including access to the GPS equipment. And importantly pledge that the findings will be made public on completion of the report.